Global Golf Post - April 23, 2012

B I saw it on Golf Channel,” Ogilvie said. “They (TPC
San Antonio) will oversee it, get the greens right and
see who comes. If Phil (Mickelson) is true to form,
he will be here, and you will see some Europeans
who want to play as well before The Masters.”
“It really depends how badly you want to play the
week before a major,” said Tour veteran Jerry Kelly.
The change in schedule came about because
of an extra week in the 2013 season and the Texas
Open having a clause in their contract which
prohibits the tournament from ending on Easter,
because of a large charity tournament it runs the
Monday after the tournament.

Matt Kuchar, who finished tied for third at The
Masters this year, said he was uncertain if the new
date would bring new players to the Texas Open.
“I’ve gone back and forth on how best to
prepare, but I went down early this year and had
a pretty good result so you don’t know how it is
going to shape up,” said Kuchar.

a career that he thought was lost. After going to
Germany last spring to see Wehling, the same
person Fred Couples credits for restoring his ca-
reer, he began playing golf again last summer and
entered 2012 on a major medical exemption. This
is his fourth tournament of the year and his first
made cut since the Honda Classic near his Florida
home, where he finished T55 six years ago.

Kuehne said making the cut was even more
special because it came in his home state before
his mom and friends who made the trip from
Dallas to see him play.

“It means a lot, I’ve always played well in
Texas, always consider myself a Texan despite
moving away and always want to play well here.
Any time I can play in my home state, I am there.”
Also, his personal life is more settled as well. His
new wife, Andy, was in San Antonio with him and his
son by a first marriage is now 6 and playing golf.
“I overcame all kinds of things. You get knocked
down you just keep coming back,” Kuehne said.
“You get knocked down 99 times, you keep coming
back the 100th. That’s what I’m going to do, the
rest of this tournament, the rest of my life.”

David Duval also made his first cut of the year
after 10 straight misses dating back to last October.

The Road to the
Ryder Cup
Presented by:
September 25-30 | Medinah Country Club
Medinah, Ill., USA
Title sponsor Valero also announced an exten-
sion of its deal with the PGA Tour until at least
2018 and the Texas Open announced it would
contribute $9 million to charity, tying its own PGA
Tour record set last year.
Former U.S. Amateur champion Hank Kuehne
crossed an emotional roadblock in his improbable
comeback bid, making his first 36-hole cut since
March 2006 with rounds of 72-74. He finished T67,
playing the weekend in 74-78.
“It’s been a long while,” he said laughing, when
asked the last time he played pro golf on the
weekend. “I’m going to have a good dinner and go
to bed to celebrate.”
Kuehne, part of Texas’ most successful golf
family with his brother, Trip, and sister, Kel-
lie, both winning national amateur titles, hasn’t
played since 2007 with back troubles.
“I never realized what a gift it was to be able to
play until you have it taken it away. I feel like I have
a new lease on life to play because I had given up. I
didn’t think I would be able to do this again.”
He credits revolutionary treatment from Ger-
man back doctor Peter Wehling for helping restore

Kevin Na made his peace with the infamous
par-4 ninth hole, where he made a PGA Tour
record score of 16 last year.

Earlier in the week, he took a chainsaw to the
brush, where he encountered his record score, for
a national TV piece, and during Thursday’s first
round he hung the same shirt he was wearing last
year on the tree branches as a final peace offering.
“I just wanted to use humor to put it behind
me,” he said. “It’s done and in the past now.”
While he scored a solid par on the ninth hole,
he had two triple-bogeys in a first-round 79 and
withdrew, saying he was not feeling well.
Team Qualification Process

Rank Name Points

1 Bubba Watson 4,717.755
2 Phil Mickelson 3,746.624
3 Hunter Mahan 3,332.054
4 Keegan Bradley 3,111.492
5 Tiger Woods 2,173.667
6 Brandt Snedeker 2,145.857
7 Bill Haas 2,106.071
8 Steve Stricker 2,060.845
9 Kyle Stanley 2,037.457
10 Johnson Wagner 2,013.946
11 Mark Wilson 1,998.593
12 Matt Kuchar 1,866.930

The Valero Texas Open celebrated its 90th
anniversary this week as the fifth oldest tourna-
ment in professional golf, behind the British,
U.S., Canadian and Western Open and the PGA.

It’s the oldest tournament in golf with every
event in the same city, San Antonio. The event was
celebrated with a breakfast for past champions,
which included former PGA Tour commissioner
Deane Beman and Australian Bruce Crampton.
A huge birthday cake was cut and passed out to
thousands of fans at the Saturday round and there
was a free concert by country legend Robert Earl
Keen.
Multi-PGA Tour winner Anthony Kim’s rehab
bid took another detour last week as he withdrew
after 14 holes Thursday with left wrist pain. He
said it went numb on the first hole after he hit
something and was unable to properly hold onto
a club. After going home for an X-ray and some
treatment, Kim was a late commitment to this
week’s Zurich Classic in New Orleans. l

Team Europe
Rank Name Points

1 Rory McIlroy 2,584,843.51
2 Peter Hanson 1,633,004.93
3 Martin Kaymer 1,587,688.41
4 Justin Rose 1483613.23
5 Paul Lawrie 1,387,723.60
6 GonzaloFdez-Castaño 1,261,297.96
7 Sergio Garcia 1,219,822.68
8 Lee Westwood 1,203,446.04
9 Alvaro Quiros 1,155,967.13
10 Michael Hoey 1,035,043.28
11 Graeme McDowell 1,019,645.84
12 Rafael Cabrera-Bello 974,288.75

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